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COMMON POSITION (EC) No 12/2006

adopted by the Council on 18 July 2006

with a view to adoption a Decision No .../2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council ... establishing a Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity — Progress

(2006/C 238 E/03)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Articles 13(2), 129 and 137(2)(a) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee (1),

Having regard to the Opinion of the Committee of the Regions (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty (3),

Whereas:

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Establishment and duration of the Programme

1.   This Decision establishes the Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity, called Progress (‘the Programme’), to support financially the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the fields of employment and social affairs, as set out in the Commission Communication on the Social Agenda, and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon Strategy goals in those fields.

2.   The Programme shall run from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013.

Article 2

General objectives

1.   The Programme pursues the following general objectives:

2.   Gender mainstreaming shall be promoted in all sections of and activities under the Programme.

3.   The results achieved in the Programme sections and activities shall be disseminated to those involved and to the public as appropriate. The Commission shall conduct exchanges of views with the main stakeholders as appropriate.

Article 3

Structure of the Programme

The Programme shall be divided into the following five sections:

Article 4

Section 1: Employment

Section 1 shall support the implementation of the European Employment Strategy (EES) by:

Article 5

Section 2: Social protection and inclusion

Section 2 shall support the implementation of the open method of coordination (OMC) in the field of social protection and inclusion by:

Article 6

Section 3: Working conditions

Section 3 shall support the improvement of the working environment and working conditions, including health and safety at work and reconciling work and family life, by:

Article 7

Section 4: Antidiscrimination and diversity

Section 4 shall support the effective implementation of the principle of non-discrimination and promote its mainstreaming in all Community policies by:

Article 8

Section 5: Gender equality

Section 5 shall support the effective implementation of the principle of gender equality and promote gender mainstreaming in all Community policies by:

Article 9

Types of actions

1.   The Programme shall finance the following types of actions, which may be implemented, where appropriate, within a transnational framework:

2.   The activities provided for in point (b) of paragraph 1 shall have a strong European dimension, be of an appropriate scale in order to ensure a real European added value and be carried out by national, regional or local authorities, specialised bodies provided for under Community law or actors considered to be the key players in their area.

3.   The Programme shall not finance any measures for the preparation and implementation of European Years.

Article 10

Access to the Programme

1.   Access to the Programme shall be open to all public and/or private bodies, actors and institutions, in particular:

2.   The Commission may also directly participate in the Programme insofar as the activities provided for in points (a) and (b) of Article 9(1) are concerned.

Article 11

Method of application for support

1.   Activities of the type referred to in Article 9 may be financed by:

2.   Activities of the type provided for in Article 9(1) may be granted financial support in response to requests by, for example, Member States, in accordance with relevant provisions of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 of 25 June 2002 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities (14), in particular Article 110 thereof, and Commission Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2342/2002 of 23 December 2002 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (15), in particular in Article 168 thereof.

Article 12

Implementing provisions

1.   The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision that relate to the following matters shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(2):

2.   The measures necessary for the implementation of this Decision that relate to all matters other than those referred to in paragraph 1 shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 13(3).

Article 13

Committee

1.   The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee.

2.   Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 4 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

The period laid down in Article 4(3) of Decision 1999/468/EC shall be set at two months.

3.   Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply, having regard to the provisions of Article 8 thereof.

4.   The Committee shall adopt its rules of procedure.

Article 14

Cooperation with other committees

1.   The Commission shall establish the necessary links with the Social Protection Committee and the Employment Committee in order to ensure that they are regularly and appropriately informed about the implementation of activities referred to in this Decision.

2.   The Commission shall also inform other relevant committees of the action taken under the five sections of the Programme.

3.   Where appropriate, the Commission shall establish regular and structured cooperation between the Committee referred to in Article 13 and the monitoring committees established for other relevant policies, instruments and actions.

Article 15

Consistency and complementarity

1.   The Commission shall, in cooperation with the Member States, ensure overall consistency with other Union and Community policies, instruments and actions, in particular by establishing appropriate mechanisms to coordinate the activities of the Programme with relevant activities relating to research, justice and home affairs, culture, education, training and youth policy, and in the fields of enlargement and the Community's external relations, and with regional policy and general economic policy. Special attention shall be devoted to the possible synergies between this Programme and those in the field of education and training.

2.   The Commission and the Member States shall ensure consistency and complementarity and the absence of duplication between activities under the Programme and other relevant Union and Community actions, in particular under the Structural Funds, especially the European Social Fund.

3.   The Commission shall ensure that expenditure covered by and charged to the Programme is not charged to any other Community financial instrument.

4.   The Commission shall keep the Committee referred to in Article 13 regularly informed of other Community action that contributes to achieving the Lisbon strategy goals in the field of the Social Agenda.

5.   Member States shall make all possible efforts to ensure consistency and complementarity between activities under the Programme and those carried out at national, regional and local levels.

Article 16

Participation of third countries

The Programme shall be open to the participation of:

Article 17

Financing

1.   The financial envelope for implementing the Community activities referred to in this Decision for the period from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2013 is hereby set at EUR 657 590 000 (16).

2.   Over the entire period of the Programme, the financial breakdown between the different sections shall respect the following lower limits:

3.   A maximum of 2 % of the financial envelope shall be attributed to the implementation of the Programme to cover, for example, the expenditure related to the functioning of the Committee referred to in Article 13 or the evaluations carried out pursuant to Article 19.

4.   The annual appropriations shall be authorised by the budgetary authority within the limits of the financial framework.

5.   The Commission may have recourse to technical and/or administrative assistance, to the mutual benefit of the Commission and of the beneficiaries, as well as to support expenditure.

Article 18

Protection of the Community's financial interests

1.   The Commission shall ensure that, when actions financed under this Decision are implemented, the financial interests of the Community are protected by the application of preventive measures against fraud, corruption and any other illegal activities, by effective checks and by the recovery of the amounts unduly paid and, if irregularities are detected, by effective, proportional and dissuasive penalties, in accordance with Council Regulations (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 of 18 December 1995 on the protection of the European Communities financial interests (17) and (Euratom, EC) No 2185/96 of 11 November 1996 concerning on-the-spot checks and inspections carried out by the Commission in order to protect the European Communities' financial interests against fraud and other irregularities (18), and with Regulation (EC) No 1073/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 concerning investigations conducted by the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) (19).

2.   For Community actions financed under this Decision, the notion of irregularity referred to in Article 1(2) of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95 shall mean any infringement of a provision of Community law or any breach of a contractual obligation resulting from an act or omission by an economic operator, which has, or would have, the effect of prejudicing the general budget of the European Union or budgets managed by it, by an unjustified item of expenditure.

3.   Contracts and agreements as well as agreements with participating third countries resulting from this Decision shall provide, in particular, for supervision and financial control by the Commission (or any representative authorised by it) and audits by the Court of Auditors, if necessary, on the spot.

Article 19

Monitoring and evaluation

1.   In order to ensure the regular monitoring of the Programme and to allow for any necessary reorientations, annual activity reports focusing on the results of the Programme shall be drawn up by the Commission and forwarded to the European Parliament and to the Committee referred to in Article 13.

2.   The various sections of the Programme shall also be the subject of a mid-term evaluation, which will provide an overview of the Programme as a whole in order to measure the progress made in meeting the objectives of the Programme, the efficiency of the use of resources and its European added value. This evaluation may be supplemented by on-going evaluations. These shall be carried out by the Commission with the assistance of external experts. When available, their results shall be reported in the activity reports referred to in paragraph 1.

3.   An ex-post evaluation covering the whole Programme shall be carried out, by 31 December 2015, by the Commission with the assistance of external experts, in order to measure the impact of the Programme objectives and its European added value. The Commission shall submit the expert evaluation to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.

4.   The implementation of the individual sections of the Programme, including the presentation of results and dialogue on future priorities, shall also be discussed within the framework of the Forum on the implementation of the Social Agenda.

Article 20

Entry into force

This Decision shall enter into force on the twentieth day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament

The President

...

For the Council

The President

...

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(1)OJ C 255, 14.10.2005, p. 67.

(2)OJ C 164, 5.7.2005, p. 48.

(3)  Opinion of the European Parliament of 6 September 2005 (not yet published in the Official Journal), Council common position of 18 July 2006 and Position of the European Parliament of ... (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(4)OJ L 303, 2.12.2000, p. 23.

(5)OJ L 17, 19.1.2001, p. 22. Decision as last amended by Decision No 1554/2005/EC (OJ L 255, 30.9.2005, p. 9).

(6)OJ L 10, 12.1.2002, p. 1. Decision as last amended by Decision No 786/2004/EC (OJ L 138, 30.4.2004, p. 7).

(7)OJ L 170, 29.6.2002, p. 1. Decision as amended by Decision No 786/2004/EC.

(8)OJ L 157, 30.4.2004, p. 18. Decision as amended by Decision No 1554/2005/EC.

(9)OJ L 180, 19.7.2000, p. 22.

(10)OJ L 303, 2.12.2000, p. 16.

(11)OJ L 373, 21.12.2004, p. 37.

(12)  OJ C ...

(13)OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.

(14)OJ L 248, 16.9.2002, p. 1.

(15)OJ L 357, 31.12.2002, p. 1. Regulation as amended by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1261/2005 (OJ L 201, 2.8.2005, p. 3).

(16)  This amount is based on 2004 figures and shall be subject to technical adjustment to take account of inflation.

(17)OJ L 312, 23.12.1995, p. 1.

(18)OJ L 292, 15.11.1996, p. 2.

(19)OJ L 136, 31.5.1999, p. 1.

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I.   INTRODUCTION

On 27 August 2004, the Commission submitted a proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and the Council establishing a Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity — Progress (2007-2013). The legal basis of this proposal rests on Articles 13(2), 129 and 137(2)(a) of the Treaty. Essentially, the proposal combines in a single text a number of programmes which had previously been the subject of separate Decisions.

The Committee of the Regions gave its opinion on 23 February 2005 and the Economic and Social Committee submitted its opinion on 6 April 2005.

During its plenary from 5 to 8 September 2005, the European Parliament gave its opinion on first reading and adopted 72 amendments to the proposal for a Decision.

The Commission adopted its amended proposal on 21 October 2005. On 24 May 2006, the Commission adopted an amended proposal that concerned only Article 17(1), the budget of the Programme.

The Council adopted a Common Position on 18 July 2006, in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty.

II.   OBJECTIVE

The overall objective of the Programme is to consolidate into one streamlined Programme, running from 2007 to 2013, activities launched under a number of earlier Decisions. The Programme's activities are divided into five different sections: employment, social protection and inclusion, working conditions, anti-discrimination and diversity, and gender equality.

III.   ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

1.   General

On the whole, the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission have convergent approaches to this Programme. A significant number of the European Parliament's amendments have been taken up in the Common Position (see Section 2 below for more details).

The Programme's budget of EUR 657,59 million (1) was agreed by the three institutions in the context of the inter-institutional agreement on the Financial Perspectives for the years 2007-2013. The Common Position reflects that agreement (Article 17(1)).

A major modification to the Commission's proposal is that the Common Position, in Article 17(2), allocates the overall budget fully between the different sections of the Programme; the Commission had initially proposed a ten per cent unallocated reserve, to be distributed between the fives sections during the period of the Programme's implementation. The Parliament, in its amendment 67, wished to increase the funding to two sections, Section 2 (social protection and inclusion) and Section 5 (gender equality). The Council accepts this amendment fully but also wishes to increase the funding to two other sections, i.e. Sections 1 (employment) and 3 (working conditions). As a consequence, the Council considers that it is best to allocate all the funding from the outset of the Programme, as a relatively small reserve would be unnecessarily cumbersome to allocate annually. The Council considers that this full allocation of the funding follows the aim of the European Parliament which, in its amendments, stressed the importance of transparency in the budgetary decision-making.

2.   European Parliament Amendments taken up by the Council

A large number of the Parliament's amendments have been accepted by the Council. Amendments 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 34, 36, 39, 40, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 53, 61, 62, 63, 65, 67, 69 and 70 have been accepted in their entirety, albeit in places with minor linguistic changes or updating (like using the term ‘national reform programmes’, a term introduced by the European Council in March 2005, instead of ‘national action plans’ in Amendment 22).

A number of amendments are accepted in part, taken up elsewhere in the text or taken up in spirit. On these amendments, the Council makes the following comments:

Amendment 4: The Council shares the Parliament's concern on migrants and undeclared work; however, it does not consider that these two are automatically linked; thus the Council, while accepting the amendment's spirit, has changed the wording (Recital 6).

Amendment 9 on the role of NGOs: The Council agrees with the Parliament on the important role of the NGOs and a new recital has been included in the text, using different wording, however, from that in the Parliament's amendment (Recital 11).

Amendment 13 on the general objectives of the Programme: The Council does not accept the inclusion of the text on ‘the creation of more and better jobs’ in Article 2, as this is not a prerogative of this Programme.

Amendment 14 also on general objectives: The Council accepts adding ‘innovative approaches’ to the text; however, it considers that the Programme should have its focus at EU level and therefore has not included the words ‘regional’ and ‘national’ in the Common Position (Article 2(1)(d)).

Amendment 16 on supporting the capacity of key EU networks: The Council considered that it was not necessary to list specific requirements concerning these networks (Article 2(1)(f)).

Amendment 18 on the dissemination of the results: The Council agreed with the Parliament on the importance of such dissemination but considers that it is unnecessary to list in the article the stakeholders to whom the results are disseminated (Article 2(3)).

Amendment 28 on gender mainstreaming (Article 6): The Council fully agrees with the principle and this issue is dealt with in Article 2(2).

Amendment 29 on statistics in the field of working conditions: The Council does not consider it necessary to describe the types of indicators (Article 6(a)).

Amendment 32 on working conditions: The second part of the amendment (on specific topics within the larger field of working conditions) is not included in the text in full, as it was considered to be already covered (Article 6(d)).

Amendment 35 on anti-discrimination and diversity: The Council considered that the words ‘and action taken to combat it’ were already covered at the beginning of the point in question (Article 7(a)).

Amendment 37 also on anti-discrimination and diversity: The Council agreed with the Parliament to add a list of stakeholders but used a slightly different list, for the sake of consistency with the articles dealing with other sections of the Programme (Article 7(c)).

Amendment 38 also on anti-discrimination and diversity: The Council agrees with the Commission to align the wording of this paragraph with similar paragraphs in other articles. As in the case of Amendment 16, it does not consider it necessary to include a list of the qualities of NGOs (Article 7(d)).

Amendment 48: The Council has followed the Commission's amended proposal and has incorporated this reference to national circumstances in the text of Article 9(1), point (b), first indent.

Amendment 49: The Council agrees with the Commission's amended proposal that it is not necessary to list the other relevant actors (Article 9(1)(c)(iii).

Amendments 54 and 55 on access to the Programme: Although the Programme is also open to regional and national NGOs, the Council wishes to stress the role of the NGOs organised at EU level. Similarly, in this context, the Council wishes to stress the important role of public employment services. However, it notes that all bodies, actors and institutions can have access to the Programme, as stated in the introductory part of Article 10.

Amendment 64 on consistency and complementarity. While the Council agrees with the Parliament on the importance of this issue, it considers that Article 15(2) covers the issue and that it is not, therefore, necessary to list the different European agencies in the legal text.

Amendment 66 on the overall budget: See comments above, under Section III, point 1.

Amendment 71 on evaluations: The Council agrees with the Parliament that the ex-post evaluation should be available by 31.12.2015. However, concerning the other parts of the Parliament's amendment, it has followed the Commission's amended proposal (Article 19).

3.   European Parliament amendments not adopted by the Council

The Council followed the advice of the Commission and did not include the following Amendments in its Common Position: 23, 33, 50, 51, 56, 57, 59, 60 and 72.

As for Amendments 31, 41, 47, 52, 58 and 68 (which were included in the Commission's amended proposal), the Council did not consider it advisable to include them in its Common Position:

Amendment 31: While the Parliament wanted to delete the words ‘the prevention culture in the field of’ from the text of Article 6(3), the Council considered it more appropriate to keep the words in the text, as the prevention culture should indeed be fostered.

Amendment 41: The Parliament wanted to add a reference to ‘reconciling work and family life’ also to Article 8(3); the Council considers this superfluous, as the text has already been added elsewhere in the text.

Amendment 47 on the Forum: The Council did not consider it necessary to include a reference to ‘an annual forum to evaluate the Social agenda and the Programme’ in Article 9 (i.e. in the Article on Types of actions). A new Article 19(4) includes several of the ideas contained in this amendment, whilst not taking on board the requirements to organise the Forum annually and to use it to evaluate the Programme.

Amendment 52 on the Social Agenda. As the amended version of Article 1 already includes references to the Lisbon strategy and to the Social Agenda, the Council considers it superfluous to introduce a new paragraph on this issue under Article 9.

Amendments 58 and 68 on the budgetary procedure: These amendments have become redundant now that all the Programme's funding is distributed between the different sections. See also Section III, point 1.

IV.   CONCLUSION

The Council considers that, as a whole, the Common Position is in line with the objectives of the Commission's amended proposal. The Council also considers that it has taken account of the objectives pursued by the European Parliament in its amendments to the original Commission proposal.

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(1)  At 2004 prices. This corresponds to EUR 743,25 million at indexed prices.

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